Well stated, the early to mid 1970s was a great time to grow up. The only blemish in 1974 was when the Raiders narrowly defeated the Fins in the playoffs.
Following the Super Bowl win over the Vikings, Bill Arnsparger, the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach, left to become the NY Giants head coach. He was the mastermind of the No Name Defense for Miami.
Slowly but surely he turned the Giants defense into a respectable unit. However, that totally lame offense was another story completely. I've read where certain players did not appreciate the new Defensive Coordinator's defensive scheme. When that happens, the team fabric starts to tear apart.
That didn't look like a Don Shula coached team vs the Jets! Jake Scott a muff and a fumble!!? Not like him! Also Griese erratic passing,bad snap on the FG attempt and roughing the punter? Uncharacteristic!!!And the Jets outrushed and out passed them!
A tired and older team. The Butch, Sundance and Warfield leaving really put a damper on the spirit of the team. 2 championships in 2 years is still impressive.
They played a lot of play-off and other post-season games (Pro Bowl and College All-Star games) and that had to add to the wear and tear that you mentioned.
@@briggscharleton6139 They were actually still pretty young as a whole. But they started drafting poorly and lost several players to the WFL. They drafted future multiple All-Pro Leon Gray in the 3rd and then cut him. Briscoe cost them a 1st rounder that Buffalo used to draft HOF Joe Delamielleure. To top it off, Joe Robbie started to become a jerk and Shula didn’t back players in disputes with Robbie, something Shula soon started to regret. Meanwhile, the Steelers were putting the scouting work in and killing it draft day and Al Davis was at his best, keeping his best together and getting more.
@@markgardner9460 And Shula insisted on winning every game he coached. I wish there was a site with preseason records from the 1970s. Those six-game preseason schedules were a real stickler with the NFLPA in its second incarnation post-merger. Turning them into two additional regular season games in 1978 was agreed to with by the players with promises from the owners to increase the compensation schedule from a flat rate for each preseason game to a proration based on regular-season salaries. That never happened, complicating negotiations in both regular-season strikes in the 1980s. Don't know what became of this point of conflict once an apparently permanent statis of labor-management calm settled in after the 1987 strike.
The early and middle 1970’s were the roots of the popularity of the NFL in future years, to the present day. The Dolphins, the Vikings, Redskins, Cowboys were just a few of the teams every fan was eager to watch them play.
Thanks for the this excellent video. In 1971 I became a young “Dol-fan” and have remained loyal ever since. The 1972-73 Dolphins teams were dominant. The 1973 team was probably even better than the 1972 undefeated team, despite a couple of regular season losses. I well remember being at my best friend’s house to watch the 1974 Dolphins-Raiders playoff game. Throughout my life I have watched probably well over 1,000 sporting events, including pro and college football and basketball. This loss to the Raiders was the most heartbreaking of them all. I agree with the producer of this video, Miami’s injury riddled defensive backfield was not quite strong enough to beat the Raiders, who had a very good team. Being unable to win a Super Bowl during the Dan Marino era was another disappointment. Once again, not enough defense.
@@markgardner9460 thank you for the memories. After watching the “sea of hands” play, I was in a state of shock. At age 10, I thought the world had come to an end. While it was not exactly the end of the planet, this game marked the end of the Dolphins’ glory years.
@@markgardner9460 it really was an amazing game. My best friend “Brink” was also a Dolphins fan. We watched the game at his parents’ house. After the game was over, my father came by to pick me up. Dad asked why I was so depressed. I was wearing my Dolphins coat. Dad not realize how important the game was to me.
I watched the game with my grandfather, too, and I can still hear him say about Stabler: "Look at how much time he has (to pass)". Indeed, he looked like a statue in the pocket for most of the game.
The Dolphins did not play in a 4th straight Super Bowl because the Oakland Raiders defeated them in the Sea of Hands game which I saw with my own eyes. Chriskelley mentions the defense, and indeed, while Benny Malone may have scored too soon, the Dolphins defense did not do the job of a championship team on that last Raiders drive. The Raiders in their own right were also a great team from the late 1960s into the early 1980s, and while they had trouble winning the big ones, John Madden had, and still has I believe, one of the highest winning percentages overall with coaches above a certain minimum seasons or games. Anyway, it is very high. I just looked it up: it is still the highest since the 1950s at 75.9% (according to Wikipedia), higher than Vince Lombardi, George Allen, and Don Shula. And we haven't yet talked about the Steelers and the Steel Curtain.
LOVED the Raiders back then.....now.....eh......but the Raiders West Coast Offense of the 70's was a prototype for today's game......the problem back then was, the Raiders didn't have the ground attack of Miami and Pittsburgh
Exactly. All that other stuff didn't help Miami BEYOND 1974, but the Oakland Raiders are the No. 1 reason why the 1974 Dolphins didn't play in a 4th straight Super Bowl. The Raiders ended the Dolphins' run Dec. 21, 1974 in the Sea of Hands game. I remember watching that game on TV. There are some good NFL film docs about those Raiders teams and that particular game on NFL Network periodically. The 70s remain my favorite era of the NFL.
Honestly, this is an example of how difficult it is to keep a team focused for more than a few seasons. Winning consecutive SBs is very difficult and Shula did a terrific job in my opinion. I agree with others too that losing the defensive coordinator was a big deal. Obviously, losing players to the new league was big problem as well
The way I see it is this. These Dolphins from 1971 thru 1974 win 55 games and lose only 10. With 3 straight Super Bowl games, one perfect season, and 2 World Championships. That is success that so many would kill for. That is what Great Teams do. And that was a great team. And when you have a QB who in 74 completed over 60 percent of his passes and was so efficient in the Red-Zone, that wins a lot of football games at any level. And that is the ultimate bottom line in this game.
While he completed over 60% of his passes, he ranked in the bottom tier of sack percentage. So, instead of taking unnecessary sacks at times, he would have been better advised to throw the ball away and avoid the loss of yardage.
Mandich was in the line-up, seemingly, on passing downs and 2 Tight End goal line formations, while the larger, better blocking Marv Flemming was in on running plays and 2 Tight End goal line formations. What a nice combination to have.
Excellent analysis Mark. Great video. The Dolphins were aging and their time was fading. They were still good though. It’s interesting to analyze what happened. When i saw the snap mishandled and Yepremian chasing down the loose ball against the Jets, i wondered ok what’s he gonna do here and right on cue he kicked it into the stands. 🤣. Ah classic!
Thank you! They couldn't put enough heat on the QB which put too much pressure on their secondary. I don't think that they were the fastest bunch back there. I often wonder if home field advantage in the play-offs would have resulted in a different result. It's easy to say "yes", but who knows?
@@markgardner9460About that kick of his in the Super Bowl. A while back another TH-camr slowed it down and Garo actually kicked it off the back of one of the Dolphin player"s heads origially. That was how he got the ball back to throw it so fast. Did you see that?
That was an eye opener! Didn’t realize that Malone had basically supplanted Kiick and Morris as the second RB. Also how pedestrian Griese and Warfields numbers were. Defensive backfield was a liability and it seemed like age caught up to them as evidenced by a poor 1975 season. I recall Csonka stating all the playoff games in the previous years took a toll. Great analysis and footage on a magical era for any NFL fan. Thank you!
Great comment from Csonka that is quite revealing. Quite a few of those play-off games were played on that hard '70's artificial turf which adds to the physical breakdown. I noted elsewhere that the Dolphins played in 2 of those College All-Star Games (which were played on artificial turf), as well as a lot of Pro Bowl games. In short, they played a lot more games on more physically demanding playing surfaces than a typical team. As always, thanks for your comments!
Excellent point the playoffs games on the hard turf took it's toll! The 74 Dolphins were still great but Arnsparger leaving, the defections of Zonk,Kiick and Warfield hurt! They were getting everyone's best shot being 2 times defending champions and key players were aging! Kiick's last season with Miami was 74 and while he was a good back around the goal line and a good blocker,he only had one year with a ypc over 4,1971 738 yards 4.6 ypc, Warfield's last year with Miami was also 1974 ,his personal best with Miami was 43 rec.996 yards a great 23.2 ypc and league leading 11 TD! Mercury Morris was fantastic in 1972 1000 yards 5.3 yards per carry 12 TD and possibly better in 73 954 yards 6.4!! ypc and 10 TD! But injuries took their toll and while he did have 875 yards in 75 the next year he was with San Diego,then out of football.To me possibly the most remarkable one is Csonka! He took a pounding ( gave it out too,) averaging over 4 ypc 5 of his first 6 years ,over 1000 yards 71-73 average 5.4 ypc ( led the NFL in 72!) came back to the Giants for 3 pedestrian years 76-78 obviously a box office draw) And in 79 he returned to Miami had over 800 yards rushing and 12 TD, incredibly his most TD in a season!
Excellent video Mark! This made me think! I was never a Dolphin fan but it took a lot to build this near dynasty and it took a lot to take it down!!If they had won 3 straight I would have called it a dynasty!
What amazed me about the Giants was, they paid Csonka all of that money, but then basically utilized him as a blocking fullback. Near the goal line they didn't give him the ball on a regular basis either. I don't understand why they signed him. They had glaring needs all over the field, but threw a bunch of dough at one position, then didn't play him the way that he should have been played.
I would like to see another angle of Warfields 49 yard touchdown catch. Looks to me that he was tackled short of the goal line. Thanks for the video Mark!
Miami's 11-3 record in 1974 was not what put them in Oakland for the divisional playoff. Prior to 1975, home teams for the playoffs were determined by a yearly rotation. Had those playoffs been seeded, the Dolphins would have been No. 2 and hosted the No. 3 seed Steelers in the first round. No. 1 seed Oakland and wildcard Buffalo would have been the other matchup. It was under this format that the undefeated 1972 Dolphins had to go on the road to Pittsburgh for the AFC championship game.
"Sonny Jurgenson"...just had a " football quarterbacks"name.."Csonka, Kiick, Morris" Griese"were just a "few" of the many"Dolphin elite".. including "Warfield" "Great breakdown"Mark"!!🔥🔥
There was an article in Rolling Stone by Hunter S. Thompson (the good doctor) that came out after the Dolphins stomped the nuts off my beloved Vikings where Hunter had interviewed a bunch of Dolphin players that were very unhappy with management and the horrible pay they were getting for three straight superbowls. Plus, there was the World Football League that was about to happen and they were very aware of it and the money that was being offered to leave the NFL and go to the WFL. I gotta go volunteer right now at our museum here in town but i cant wait to watch this one later tonight Mark and see what all you got in store!!!!! Thanks Mark, this is a great subject to present cause they Dolphins could if motivated been a 3 straight time champ.
The thing that really cost them in 1974 was a pair of key injuries in their secondary in the "Sea of Hands" game, as first Jake Scott, and then Curtis Johnson went down with injuries. The NFL Films GOTW episode that featured this timeless classic pointed this out, as the Raiders did virtually nothing in the first quarter, but once Scott went down, Ken Stabler began to bombard a defense usually known for it's stinginess when it came to preventing the long strike. Being unable to cash in on early opportunities to put the Raiders away after Nat Moore's game-opening kickoff return for a TD also proved to be costly. There was also one mystifying regular season loss to the New York Jets in which they made uncharacteristic mistakes in all phases of the game, but that really didn't cost them anything in the end because of the way the playoff match-ups were set back then (by rotation, instead of seeding).
As the video depicted, there were 2 roughing the punter calls and 2 Jake Scott fumbles on punt returns, then Garo tried to reinact his Super Bowl 7 theatrics on a blocked field goal attempt, so your are absolutely correct there and also with their defensive secondary injuries.
as a life time fan the 32-2 2 year record is what stands out the most for me! if not for thye sea of hands catch we could have made another sb! yes im and old school fan! i mean old! but this era was the example of real football! thanks for the memories!
I can relate - if it not for fantasy football, I would have quit watching a lot earlier. I think a substantial segment of tv viewers play fantasy football and/or gamble on the games. Who knows what percentage of them actually give a hoot about the actual games.
A lot of people forget that at one point well into the 1975 season the Dolphins had the best record in the NFL. Injuries had a lot to do with the late season collapse that kept them out of the playoffs for the first time since 1969 - plus a bad call that invalidated Nat Moore's touchdown at Baltimore in week 13.
They were 7 wins and 1 loss after week 8, then lost the next 2 games, while the Vikings started the season with 10 straight wins and only lost 2 games in the regular season. I get your point though; they had a fine team, but then Griese was hurt in week 10 and didn't play for the remainder of the year.
@@docnoc66 My first pro game live was Detroit hosting Green Bay at the Silverdome in Pontiac Michigan and John Hadl QBed the Packers Special memory for me. September 1975.
The 70s had the most great teams of any decade..Miami, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Oakland , even Minnesota and L.A. Rams were persistent title contenders..no other decade can claim that quantity of excellence
That would have entailed the players breaking their contracts with the WFL Toronto/Memphis team that they signed on March 30th, 1974. There was no way that Robbie was going to pony up the 3 million dollar contracts sum that they signed for, in my opinion.
It was too late as they signed with WFL in off-season after victory over Vikings in 73 SB. If Robbie had matched the WFL offers the other 25 NFL owners would have excoriated him.
@@MarkHermann-u5p Joe Robbie was notoriously tight....Csonka said....They actually had no intention of signing but when they called down to Miami no one would take their call.... Csonka say it pissed them off that they wouldn't even talk to them.... If someone would have just talked to them they would have stayed in Miami....Coach Shula wasn't available or he would have...so he said
I like that you pointed to the pass defense, but you should have named Arnsparger. Sure, Csonka, Kiick and Warfield leaving for the WFL got all the headlines, but the loss of Arnsparger was the real nail in the coffin. The Dolphins declined immediately with his departure, and when he returned in the late 70's, began to ascend again culminating in the excellent teams of the early 80's lead by Arnsparger's Killer Bees defense. Arnsparger leaves again after the 83 season, the defense plummets almost overnight, and after a successful 84 season carried entirely on the shoulders of a rookie QB phenom, began the decline again. It's not a coincidence. Arnsparger was Miami's MVP during Shula's tenure.
While the Dolphins were #1 in the least amount of points surrendered in 1973, they only dropped to 6th in '74 and actually were better in '75 when they were 4th. So while they declined, it was not a large decline. Since it was not, I could not state that his departure was one of the top 2-3 reasons for their failure to play in another Super Bowl for the 1974 season.
All True , But Arnspargers killer Bees was pounded by bigger Offensive lines by the 1980s , Their Achilles heel was their inability to stop the run , 165 - 1978 vs Hou, , 149 - 1981 vs SD , 1983 - 276 vs Wash , 151 - 1983 vs Sea , 1985 - SF - 211 , 1985 vs NE - 255 , 1984 - 1985 were still his core players even though he left after Seattle game in 1983 .
@@mr.majestic3851 Good point on the run defense. He always had smallish guys up front favoring agility and that did hurt them in key cases. We saw that in Super Bowl 17 vs "The Hogs" (still that game was lost by David Woodley in my opinion). His pass defenses were always elite, with run lagging a little behind but there is no mistaking the overall defensive production in his years. The only point I would contest is that the core players were still there in 84 and 85. That part is true, but what was missing was the game planning, strategies, schemes and in game calls which is what made the key difference. Not many if any of those Killer Bees were hall of fame players. Besides, I'm not sure you could give Chuck Studley or Tom Olivadotti any players they would make successful 😂
@@markgardner9460 Statistically those are fair points, but I think what we would have a harder time proving is whether or not they made the clutch plays at the right time in the right situations under new leadership. That key stop when they had to make it sort of thing (sea of hands!). Calling the right schemes at the right time. Stats can hide those deficiencies but I don't have the proof on hand. Based on stats though, I get what you're saying.
Calling the right plays/schemes at the proper time is a terrific point made by you and like you have stated, it's impossible to determine which Coordinator did make/would have made more optimal play calls. Thanks for this discussion - I love it.
Three in a row is almost impossible.Too many variables and the game is too rough to sustain it. That team had a great run from 1970-1975. ( 10-4 in '75 and miss the playoffs- ouch!!!!). That team was sooooo deep in talent, Shula and his coaches did such a great job coaching them and they were a fun team to watch and root for. In some ways, I really like the 74-75 Dolphins better, because other teams were catching up and the Dolphins had so many injuries that they had to show just how deep they truly were. Great teams. The dominance of the Dolphins, Raiders, Steelers, Cowboys, Vikings, Rams and Redskins is what made that decade so great. Seven great franchises, doing the right things, each with its own philosophy and personality. The Raiders and Cowboys sustaining their great teams from the 60's through the early 80's is what sets them apart in my book; pushing two decades of success is a rare thing. I do wish the Steelers had squared off against the Rams in 1974 or 1975 with both teams healthy and something on the line.
Thank you for your comments. I am impressed at how well the Dolphins drafted and traded for players who took the places of departed and aging offensive skill players. A little later, they drafted quite well at the defensive line and linebacker positions, too. The Dallas Cowboys also were astute in that regard, both offensively and defensively.
@@christianstough6337 Packers are still the only team to do it. Three NFL Championships in a row. 1965, 1966, 1967. Steelers, Dolphins, Cowboys, 49ers, Patriots all close, but couldn't get 3 in a row.
I dont know if alot of football fan knows this.but in the dolphins 17- 0 season in that Superbowl they would of won 17-0 had that field goal wouldnt of been blocked
Well, the kick would have needed to go through the uprights without any penalties on the Dolphins, but I hear what yer sayin'! It would have been the perfect ending to a perfect 17 & 0 season.
From the time Don Shula arrived in Miami the Dolphins were the team to beat in the AFC, in 1970 the Raiders edged them in the playoffs, Dallas blast them in Super Bowl VI, Dolphins win two SBs in a row and now have the bullseye on them as World Champions and with Arnsparger's departure, Csonka, Warfield and Kiick's defection, the Dolphins still won 10 games in 1975 and 1977 and believe or not did not qualify for the playoffs in the 14 game regular season. The Dolphins dominated the AFC for the first lustrum of the 1970s and then the Steelers dominated the second one. Every team encounters injuries and to still have his team function as such a successful pace is Shula's greatest attribute (e.g. Earl Morrall replacing Griese in 14-0 after he broke his leg).
I remember the Washington Redskins game in 1974. Of all the games Jurgenson played well, that had to happen against the Miami Dolphins. I was so hoping the Dolphins could have won three consecutive Super Bowls. But their defense was good but not at the level of the previous two years.
I agree. Their defense allowed the second fewest rushing attempts in the NFL, so teams were onto how to best play offensive football against them - pass the ball.
Injuries and contractual discontent = no Super Bowl season. If the Sea of Hands didn't happen, wouldn't they have hosted the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game? Big fan of Nat Moore, especially his late career resurgence with Dan Marino from 1983-1986, catching 26 TDs despite being the 3rd option behind Duper and Clayton. Another 1974 Dolphins highlight was 40-year old Earl Morrall starting the season finale against the Patriots, winning 34-27 and throwing for 288 yards.
Morrall would play 2 more years for Miami - what a unique career he had. I have not checked, but a few viewers have stated that playoff seedings were not in place until the following year, so they were pre-determined and Pitt would have been the home team.
There were a number of reasons Miami fell short in 74. Many were mentioned in the video. Injuries played a large part. Both Bill Stanfill and Manny Fernandez played, but Stanfill had neck problems and Fernandez had back problems that affected their performance. The other injuries were mentioned in the video. The pass defense was not as good as Bill Arnsbarger had left to coach the Giants. There are stories that I have read that many of the defensive players didn't have faith in the new defensive coordinator. The loss of Csonka, Kiick, and Warfield had an impact as well. Also the Raiders and the Steelers were better teams than in previous years. Had Miami won the sea of hands game, I'm not sure how well they would have matched up against Pittsburgh. Every good team has a very small window of opportunity to win a championship before age and injuries close that window. Miami had great success and then their time just ran out.
Brought back memories. Was Larry Little the greatest guard to lace 'em up? He would be on a short list. I always liked Kiick, Anderson and Warfield. It was said that Benny Malone could walk over a fire hydrant and not touch the sides. I know '72 undefeated, but was the '73 fins a better team. Plunkett had a quick release, Namath the quickest, Griese looked like a relief pitcher. Griese was accurate though. Thanks brother, you're appreciated.
In rating offensive linemen, I think it should be done in eras - pre-'78 and post '78 sibce liberalization of offensive hand usage was altered in '78. Little played in both eras, but I think that he rates with Jim Parker, John Hannah and Joe DeLamielleure as the best pre-'78.
Snake drove down the field after a Miami touchdown for a last minute lobbing the ball, with somebody ahold of his leg, to Clarence Davis to steal the playoff from them. Balitnikoff made another impossible catch in that game. Miami ran back the field on the opening kickoff for a touchdown. I hadn't been watching Miami that year. I thought Grisse had been playing like that all year, lol. . . . Damn that was a great game!
This is great! I was so happy when they lost. I had a friend who thought the Dolphins wouldn't lose to the Raiders. Hey, do a video as to why Tarkenton couldn't win a Super Bowl. He called his own plays. They lost to the Steelers in the SB, but he beat them in a regular season game. I know Paul Kraus said they never played good in the SB. They were a different team. Dallas couldn't beat the Steelers in the 70's during regular season but the Vikings could. It's a mystery.
@markgardner9460 You know what you're doing. You're the master of the real NFL. I'm not even a Vikings fan, but we were so impressed with their defense. Tarkenton broke a lot of Unitas' records. Foreman was great. They all were flat in the SB. Was it the warm weather? The world may never know.
A lot of fans put the blame on Head Coach Bud Grant for having his teams show up flat because he himself was so low key. If you're a player who is playing in a Super Bowl, then you shouldn't need a rah rah speech. I think that they were simply outclassed in all four of those games.
I've always believed that if the Vikings had won the 'Hail Mary' game, they would have had the right stuff to beat the Steelers in a Super Bowl X re-match.
If Benny Malone takes a knee at the one yard line late in the game with the raiders... We don't have a sea of hands play... Because they could have run enough time off the clock that Stabler doesn't see the ball again or gets it with only like 10 seconds left
Don Nottingham and Benny Malone performed brilliantly in relief of said players. Of course it all breaks down to how well the offensive and defensive lines performed, in terms of wins and losses. I don't think that the defensive line put enough heat on opposing QB's which in turn put excessive pressure on their secondary.
I recall an interview with Shula stating that he felt more confident going into that game with Kilmer starting instead of Jurgensen. Interesting tidbit, He told Steve Sabol that George Allen had him watch the game alone from the press box instead of the sidelines.
Imagine the game that wouldve been had Miami won in the Sea of Hands. Steelers at Miami for the AFC title. Current dynasty vs. the Future Dynasty. That game might be the NFL's greatest what-if.
The Steelers offense was predicated almost solely on their running game and Miami's defense was rock solid in stopping the run. The Vikings defense shut out the Steelers offense in the first half of the Super Bowl and I think the result would have been the same with the Dolphins. To me, Pitt was still one year away, as Bradshaw was still not close to being fully developed.
@@markgardner9460 Raiders ran for 29 yds against Steel Curtain in AFC title with an O-line loaded with hall of famers. If Miami shuts down Steeler running game, the Curtain would've done worse to the Fins. By the AFC title game the Steelers were the best team in football.
@@markgardner9460 Plus, Jake Scott and Curtis Johnson would've been doubtful at best for the title game. Swann caught a TD at Oakland. Bradshaw went 29 for 50 for 395 yds 4TD 1INT in the playoffs, for a rating of 101.6 He would've taken advantage of a depleted Fins secondary.
That's right - I mentioned that in the video. It's weird that the video seems to show Jake Scott limping off the field with an ice bag attached to his knee.
Yes. At Alabama, Bear Bryant named him as the best athlete that he had coached, so with modern medicine, chances are that he could have held up well physically and really put up some stats!
I was cheating on my Packers with the Dolphins through their three Super Bowl years. After '74, I broke up with the Fins and went back to the old green and gold ball & chain. I've been faithful ever since, even through all the down years. 😁 Then in the 80s I actively rooted against Miami because Dan Marino was a Pitt Panther and I'm a Penn State Nittany Lion. Hating Pitt was a graduation requirement at PSU throughout the 70s & 80s and it carried over to NFL careers. To this day, on the extremely rare occasions I'm ever in the Pittsburgh area I make a point of going to the Pitt campus and spitting on it.
I find the '72 Packers as a very interesting team. They had a rugged, underrated defense that allowed the 4th least points. They were kind of like the Dolphins offense, as they were a rushing machine. They ran the ball 544X while passing only 237X.
That's right. I vaguely remember watching their playoff game against the Redskins. I think it was basically a slugfest......which is to say, real football.
Marv Fleming complained about Griese holding on to the ball and rated Bart Starr as a better QB than him. Griese was blind in one eye to a baseball accident.
after the sea of hands game the dolphins were never the same. when you think 1970s NFL you remember teams like the steelers cowboys and raiders to a degree. the dolphins were on their way to a third SB win but the raiders were out for revenge after being dominated by the dolphins the year before in the postseason. i never knew the raiders stopped the dolphins win streak in week 2 in 1973. the raiders were always a good team but could never win the whole thing until the snake came along. by this time he was developing into a great QB. the 70s raiders were a physical team but also had WRs that were almost impossible to cover. other teams by this time even bad ones seemed to get up against the dolphins and play them tough.
The Raiders went through the same thing that the Cowboys had went through earlier - very good teams, but they couldn't win the big one...until Dallas won the Super Bowl for the '71 season and Oakland won it for the '76 season.
The 3 peat is something not even the greatest teams could do. The 68 packers didn't even make the playoffs, the 74 dolphins lost in the final seconds, the 76 steelers ran out of gas, the 1980 steelers were just average, the 1990 49ers were outclashed by the giants, the 94 cowboys couldn't erase a 21-0 deficit, the 99 broncos had no chance without elway or terrell davis, and the 05 patriots were too injured to make it back to the big game. Can the 2024 chiefs win 3 in a row, or will the ball bounce the wrong way for KC?
@markgardner9460 true, but there was no super bowl in 1965. Plus, the colts should've won that playoff game. Chandler missed that kick, and the ref ruled it was good? Anyway, 3 straight super bowl wins is, currently, impossible
Because the snake game winning td pass was in the grasp-a rule nfl didn't have yet. And by '74 super steelers were too good so phins wouldn't have beaten steelers had they played them. Then the wfl dismantled phin offense and they were no longer a force thru the remainder of the '70's. '70's nfl was dominated by 6 teams-boys, vikes, rams in nfc. phins, steelers, raiders in afc. One or both played in every s b match-up in '70's and 2 of them had to perennially go thru the other one just to get to s b. '70's was a tough era in nfl. Kinda like the '80's nfc gauntlet skins, niners, g men, and bears had to go thru each other just to get to the sb.
Csonka was on his decline by 74 ,he made the probowl but didn't amass 1000 yds rushing ,749 and only avg 3.8 yds per rush ,although he rushed for 9 yds ,Warfield another probowl participant only obtained 536 yds and two TDS ,his 19.9 yds per catch was impressive. Point being in their last leg of elite impact to some extent ,their presence wasn't significant enough after 74 for the dolphins regime to recapture past championship glory ,him nor Csonka never acquired 1000 yds ever again in their historical careers .Dick Anderson never made another probowl or all pro after 74 ,Jake Scott only one more probowl in 1975 , Bill Stanfill after 74 never was decorated as a probowl player again , Nick Buoniconti final probowl ,all pro decoration was in 73 ,Wayne Moore final probowl was 73 ,Larry Littles final all pro yr was 75 ,point being the Dolphins dynasty regime after 74 had become infested with battle attrition wear and tear , age ,athletic prime decline , particularly positions . Reinforcements were needed that were of equal elite talent and top tier impact of their position predecessors .The ultimate inevitable of the 70's dolphins decline had absolutely nothing to do with the wfl excursion of Warfield,Csonka ,Kiick ,those gentleman were already in their decline, although while Warfield and Csonka proved to be still solid players ,with occasions of brilliance they weren't elite nor capable of controlling the narrative of games for weeks on end ,same case for several important pieces of that dynasty dolphins team . The raiders victory in the 74;sea of hands game halted the dolphins sb run, the 70's Steelers dynasty punctuated it with 4 sb victories,twice repeating .Not coincidentally,after the dynamic talent of those early 70's dolphins sb teams decimated,Shula never duplicated that talent throughout both sides of line of scrimmage, resulting in him never winning another sb , despite advancing to two others ,he in fact set a record for a coach who already captured a sb win ,by losing 4 consecutive playoff games,74,78,79,81, which has now been broken.by steelers Mike Tomlin with 5 consecutive playoff loses and counting .
I hadn't thought about Shula's 4 straight play-off game losses, so thank you for bringing that up. I wonder if the Steelers will ever dismiss Tomlin if his post-season woes continue or if they'll afford him the opportunity to walk away on his own.
Well, they bolted after the '74 season. The Dolphins went to the Super Bowl in the '71, '72, and '73 seasons, so the 4th straight season in which they could have gone to the Super Bowl was 1974 and they played for Miami during that season.
@@markgardner9460 I realized that after the video. Good job!! I was about 6-7 but I was already playing baseball and basketball. I loved the Dolphins and Steelers then. I distinctly remember the 3 of them bolting then coming back! Czonk for Giants & then back to Dolphins. Side note, my QB coach in NY was Joe Namaths!
And this fact about the Dolphins is interesting when 49ers went 15-1 the Steelers were the 9ers only loss and the Steelers could of met the 9ers in the Superbowl but the dolphins beat the Steelers in 84 then in 85 bears only loss was to the dolphins then bears could of got revenge but the pats beat Miami to go to the superbowl
Joe Robbie was cheap,took success for granted, and disrespected his players. They quickly lost stars to the WFL. They could have challenged Pittsburgh and Oakland for a few more seasons.
Yes, that's the obvious answer. My intent was to discern what specific factors caused the Dolphins to not be able to secure a won/loss record that would have afforded them home field advantage for the play-offs and a team that would have been good enough to make it to another Super Bowl.
@@markgardner9460 end of game Dolphins score too fast Benny Malone scores with 2 min. if they used up all their time Kick fg with no time on clock they win and maybe they go back to SB. Stabler had 2 min and there was no one better in clutch
Why could not the Vikings offense ever score in Super Bowls in all 4 games? Ok. I know. the AFC teams were better than the NFC teams in the 70's BUT. at least the Redskins. and Cowboys and Rams. in them 12970's Super Bowl games. kept it close and scored 3 td's or more. so. Why did the Vikings defense always play good but their Offense sucker? I will tell you why. as I know- It is just because, thats all. thats the way the cookie crumbles. it just happened. they lost to better teams. and the games against the Dolphins and Steelers. the Vikings had a lot of bad calls go against them and. bad luck plays. Hey. it just happened and thats that !!!!!
Maybe it was jet fuel residue from planes that flew over The Orange Bowl during all those years. NBC NFL announcer Curt Gowdy said that the green artificial turf had turned blue due to that jet fuel residue.
The 1974 Dolphins were a very good team but clearly a step down (particularly on defense) from the previous year. Even if they had played it properly at the end against the Raiders (Malone not score too early, run clock down) in the 1st round play-off game, it would not have ultimately made a difference as they would have played Pittsburgh the following week and lost convincingly just as Oakland did.
Do you think that Csonka, Kiick and Warfield didn't put out 100% because they signed contracts to play elsewhere after the completion of the 1974 season?
Battle attrition injuries contributed from participating in three extended seasons three consecutive sb's along with age beginning to sap athletic prime from key members eventually caught up to the dolphins empire by 74 .
Csonka, Kiick and Warfield could have been eyeing that greener pasture during the '74 season and perhaps not performing up to par, but that is a factor that is difficult to prove without having inside information. Quite a few other viewers have stated your same response, however.
I miss 1974 so badly...It was the best time of my life for EVERYTHING...You can't go wrong growing up and being a kid in the early 70's..
Yup
@brettrobinson2901 I was 10 years old and those were the best years of my life.
@@pallen49 I turned 13 in 1974. You ain't lyin'.
I'm with ya!!!
Well stated, the early to mid 1970s was a great time to grow up. The only blemish in 1974 was when the Raiders narrowly defeated the Fins in the playoffs.
Following the Super Bowl win over the Vikings, Bill Arnsparger, the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach, left to become the NY Giants head coach. He was the mastermind of the No Name Defense for Miami.
Yes he was. His record in NY was 7 & 28, but he didn't have a lot to work with.
That might be the most important reason.
Slowly but surely he turned the Giants defense into a respectable unit. However, that totally lame offense was another story completely. I've read where certain players did not appreciate the new Defensive Coordinator's defensive scheme. When that happens, the team fabric starts to tear apart.
Arnsparger leaving was definitely a huge reason in the Dolphins demise
That didn't look like a Don Shula coached team vs the Jets! Jake Scott a muff and a fumble!!? Not like him! Also Griese erratic passing,bad snap on the FG attempt and roughing the punter? Uncharacteristic!!!And the Jets outrushed and out passed them!
A tired and older team. The Butch, Sundance and Warfield leaving really put a damper on the spirit of the team. 2 championships in 2 years is still impressive.
They played a lot of play-off and other post-season games (Pro Bowl and College All-Star games) and that had to add to the wear and tear that you mentioned.
@@briggscharleton6139 They were actually still pretty young as a whole. But they started drafting poorly and lost several players to the WFL. They drafted future multiple All-Pro Leon Gray in the 3rd and then cut him. Briscoe cost them a 1st rounder that Buffalo used to draft HOF Joe Delamielleure. To top it off, Joe Robbie started to become a jerk and Shula didn’t back players in disputes with Robbie, something Shula soon started to regret.
Meanwhile, the Steelers were putting the scouting work in and killing it draft day and Al Davis was at his best, keeping his best together and getting more.
@@markgardner9460 And Shula insisted on winning every game he coached. I wish there was a site with preseason records from the 1970s. Those six-game preseason schedules were a real stickler with the NFLPA in its second incarnation post-merger. Turning them into two additional regular season games in 1978 was agreed to with by the players with promises from the owners to increase the compensation schedule from a flat rate for each preseason game to a proration based on regular-season salaries. That never happened, complicating negotiations in both regular-season strikes in the 1980s. Don't know what became of this point of conflict once an apparently permanent statis of labor-management calm settled in after the 1987 strike.
The early and middle 1970’s were the roots of the popularity of the NFL in future years, to the present day. The Dolphins, the Vikings, Redskins, Cowboys were just a few of the teams every fan was eager to watch them play.
That's exactly right. It overtook MLB in terms of popularity and one of the reasons was the incredible success of Monday Night Football.
Thanks for the this excellent video. In 1971 I became a young “Dol-fan” and have remained loyal ever since. The 1972-73 Dolphins teams were dominant. The 1973 team was probably even better than the 1972 undefeated team, despite a couple of regular season losses. I well remember being at my best friend’s house to watch the 1974 Dolphins-Raiders playoff game. Throughout my life I have watched probably well over 1,000 sporting events, including pro and college football and basketball. This loss to the Raiders was the most heartbreaking of them all. I agree with the producer of this video, Miami’s injury riddled defensive backfield was not quite strong enough to beat the Raiders, who had a very good team. Being unable to win a Super Bowl during the Dan Marino era was another disappointment. Once again, not enough defense.
I'm glad that you tuned in and enjoyed this video. Thanks for sharing your memories and thoughts, too!
@@markgardner9460 thank you for the memories. After watching the “sea of hands” play, I was in a state of shock. At age 10, I thought the world had come to an end. While it was not exactly the end of the planet, this game marked the end of the Dolphins’ glory years.
I'll never forget what my Dad said after the game: "good game". Really? Just good? How about totally amazing!
@@markgardner9460 it really was an amazing game. My best friend “Brink” was also a Dolphins fan. We watched the game at his parents’ house. After the game was over, my father came by to pick me up. Dad asked why I was so depressed. I was wearing my Dolphins coat. Dad not realize how important the game was to me.
I watched the game with my grandfather, too, and I can still hear him say about Stabler: "Look at how much time he has (to pass)". Indeed, he looked like a statue in the pocket for most of the game.
The Dolphins did not play in a 4th straight Super Bowl because the Oakland Raiders defeated them in the Sea of Hands game which I saw with my own eyes.
Chriskelley mentions the defense, and indeed, while Benny Malone may have scored too soon, the Dolphins defense did not do the job of a championship team on that last Raiders drive.
The Raiders in their own right were also a great team from the late 1960s into the early 1980s, and while they had trouble winning the big ones, John Madden had, and still has I believe, one of the highest winning percentages overall with coaches above a certain minimum seasons or games. Anyway, it is very high. I just looked it up: it is still the highest since the 1950s at 75.9% (according to Wikipedia), higher than Vince Lombardi, George Allen, and Don Shula.
And we haven't yet talked about the Steelers and the Steel Curtain.
LOVED the Raiders back then.....now.....eh......but the Raiders West Coast Offense of the 70's was a prototype for today's game......the problem back then was, the Raiders didn't have the ground attack of Miami and Pittsburgh
They lost to the Steelers.
@@anthonydileonardo8156I loved watching the Steelers winning Super Bowls.
Exactly. All that other stuff didn't help Miami BEYOND 1974, but the Oakland Raiders are the No. 1 reason why the 1974 Dolphins didn't play in a 4th straight Super Bowl. The Raiders ended the Dolphins' run Dec. 21, 1974 in the Sea of Hands game. I remember watching that game on TV.
There are some good NFL film docs about those Raiders teams and that particular game on NFL Network periodically. The 70s remain my favorite era of the NFL.
Honestly, this is an example of how difficult it is to keep a team focused for more than a few seasons. Winning consecutive SBs is very difficult and Shula did a terrific job in my opinion. I agree with others too that losing the defensive coordinator was a big deal. Obviously, losing players to the new league was big problem as well
The way I see it is this. These Dolphins from 1971 thru 1974 win 55 games and lose only 10. With 3 straight Super Bowl games, one perfect season, and 2 World Championships. That is success that so many would kill for. That is what Great Teams do. And that was a great team. And when you have a QB who in 74 completed over 60 percent of his passes and was so efficient in the Red-Zone, that wins a lot of football games at any level. And that is the ultimate bottom line in this game.
While he completed over 60% of his passes, he ranked in the bottom tier of sack percentage. So, instead of taking unnecessary sacks at times, he would have been better advised to throw the ball away and avoid the loss of yardage.
Allot of swing passes, screens and "Okie" & "Texas" routs to Mandich.
Mandich was in the line-up, seemingly, on passing downs and 2 Tight End goal line formations, while the larger, better blocking Marv Flemming was in on running plays and 2 Tight End goal line formations. What a nice combination to have.
Jake Scott should be in the HOF
I agree fully!!
It's so hard to get to two straight Super Bowls more or less 4
Excellent analysis Mark. Great video. The Dolphins were aging and their time was fading. They were still good though. It’s interesting to analyze what happened.
When i saw the snap mishandled and Yepremian chasing down the loose ball against the Jets, i wondered ok what’s he gonna do here and right on cue he kicked it into the stands. 🤣. Ah classic!
Thank you! They couldn't put enough heat on the QB which put too much pressure on their secondary. I don't think that they were the fastest bunch back there. I often wonder if home field advantage in the play-offs would have resulted in a different result. It's easy to say "yes", but who knows?
@@markgardner9460About that kick of his in the Super Bowl. A while back another TH-camr slowed it down and Garo actually kicked it off the back of one of the Dolphin player"s heads origially. That was how he got the ball back to throw it so fast. Did you see that?
@@danielbowden6330 I seen it. It’s awesome slowed down like that with the music.
I really appreciate your videos
Glad you like them! Thank you!
1:21 Wow. Three players with the single bar face mask. Loved that look
All QB's!
Who was the last player with the single bar?
I'm guessing kicker Gary Anderson
I'm guessing Joe Thiesman.
@@Qbert2803 Scott Player who was a punter
@@Tony-r7v
Good stuff, I looked it up & there it was
That was an eye opener! Didn’t realize that Malone had basically supplanted Kiick and Morris as the second RB. Also how pedestrian Griese and Warfields numbers were. Defensive backfield was a liability and it seemed like age caught up to them as evidenced by a poor 1975 season. I recall Csonka stating all the playoff games in the previous years took a toll. Great analysis and footage on a magical era for any NFL fan. Thank you!
Great comment from Csonka that is quite revealing. Quite a few of those play-off games were played on that hard '70's artificial turf which adds to the physical breakdown. I noted elsewhere that the Dolphins played in 2 of those College All-Star Games (which were played on artificial turf), as well as a lot of Pro Bowl games. In short, they played a lot more games on more physically demanding playing surfaces than a typical team. As always, thanks for your comments!
Excellent point the playoffs
games on the hard turf took it's toll! The 74 Dolphins were still great but Arnsparger leaving, the defections of Zonk,Kiick and Warfield hurt! They were getting everyone's best shot being 2 times defending champions and key players were aging! Kiick's last season with Miami was 74 and while he was a good back around the goal line and a good blocker,he only had one year with a ypc over 4,1971 738 yards 4.6 ypc, Warfield's last year with Miami was also 1974 ,his personal best with Miami was 43 rec.996 yards a great 23.2 ypc and league leading 11 TD! Mercury Morris was fantastic in 1972 1000 yards 5.3 yards per carry 12 TD and possibly better in 73 954 yards 6.4!! ypc and 10 TD! But injuries took their toll and while he did have 875 yards in 75 the next year he was with San Diego,then out of football.To me possibly the most remarkable one is Csonka! He took a pounding ( gave it out too,) averaging over 4 ypc 5 of his first 6 years ,over 1000 yards 71-73 average 5.4 ypc ( led the NFL in 72!) came back to the Giants for 3 pedestrian years 76-78 obviously a box office draw) And in 79 he returned to Miami had over 800 yards rushing and 12 TD, incredibly his most TD in a season!
And as previously stated why isn't Jake Scott in the HOF?
Excellent video Mark! This made me think! I was never a Dolphin fan but it took a lot to build this near dynasty and it took a lot to take it down!!If they had won 3 straight I would have called it a dynasty!
What amazed me about the Giants was, they paid Csonka all of that money, but then basically utilized him as a blocking fullback. Near the goal line they didn't give him the ball on a regular basis either. I don't understand why they signed him. They had glaring needs all over the field, but threw a bunch of dough at one position, then didn't play him the way that he should have been played.
love your videos. Thanks for posting. I think the biggest reason they couldnt repeat were the loss of Bill Arnsbarger coaching the Defense
Quite a few others share your same assertion. I'm glad that you enjoy my videos. Thanks for watching!
I would like to see another angle of Warfields 49 yard touchdown catch. Looks to me that he was tackled short of the goal line. Thanks for the video Mark!
@@billbill5326 He was , but it was such a good play that the ref gave it to him. Sometimes it goes like that.
@billbill5326 I think that scoring was at a premium back then and the refs were instructed "if it's close, give it to 'em"
Miami's 11-3 record in 1974 was not what put them in Oakland for the divisional playoff. Prior to 1975, home teams for the playoffs were determined by a yearly rotation. Had those playoffs been seeded, the Dolphins would have been No. 2 and hosted the No. 3 seed Steelers in the first round. No. 1 seed Oakland and wildcard Buffalo would have been the other matchup.
It was under this format that the undefeated 1972 Dolphins had to go on the road to Pittsburgh for the AFC championship game.
"Sonny Jurgenson"...just had a " football quarterbacks"name.."Csonka, Kiick, Morris" Griese"were just a "few" of the many"Dolphin elite".. including "Warfield" "Great breakdown"Mark"!!🔥🔥
Kinda like "Slingin'" Sammy Baugh, in my opinion. The Dolphins were loaded at almost every position.
Awesome video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
There was an article in Rolling Stone by Hunter S. Thompson (the good doctor) that came out after the Dolphins stomped the nuts off my beloved Vikings where Hunter had interviewed a bunch of Dolphin players that were very unhappy with management and the horrible pay they were getting for three straight superbowls. Plus, there was the World Football League that was about to happen and they were very aware of it and the money that was being offered to leave the NFL and go to the WFL. I gotta go volunteer right now at our museum here in town but i cant wait to watch this one later tonight Mark and see what all you got in store!!!!! Thanks Mark, this is a great subject to present cause they Dolphins could if motivated been a 3 straight time champ.
I hope that you enjoy it, Hammer! I heard the same thing about a lot of players who complained about their pay.
Joe Robbie, deep pockets, short fingers.
Wasn't Shula a part-owner, too? He probably didn't mind 'em leavin' when you can pay rookies peanuts.
By 1974 Bobby Beathard was draft guru for Miami. Joe Thomas had moved to Baltimore. Shula did not own a part of the team in 70s..
Another great one Mark, well done. FOrgot about that slam of Mercury by the Bills, man he went face flat on that line.
The thing that really cost them in 1974 was a pair of key injuries in their secondary in the "Sea of Hands" game, as first Jake Scott, and then Curtis Johnson went down with injuries. The NFL Films GOTW episode that featured this timeless classic pointed this out, as the Raiders did virtually nothing in the first quarter, but once Scott went down, Ken Stabler began to bombard a defense usually known for it's stinginess when it came to preventing the long strike. Being unable to cash in on early opportunities to put the Raiders away after Nat Moore's game-opening kickoff return for a TD also proved to be costly.
There was also one mystifying regular season loss to the New York Jets in which they made uncharacteristic mistakes in all phases of the game, but that really didn't cost them anything in the end because of the way the playoff match-ups were set back then (by rotation, instead of seeding).
As the video depicted, there were 2 roughing the punter calls and 2 Jake Scott fumbles on punt returns, then Garo tried to reinact his Super Bowl 7 theatrics on a blocked field goal attempt, so your are absolutely correct there and also with their defensive secondary injuries.
14:15-14:25 Kudos to you,number 73! Only man to rush towards his fallen comrade.
Norm Evans
Warfield acted like he was too frail to lend physical support and hold him up.
Is it possible that some of his teammates didn't like Merc? He seems like he could rub some folks the wrong way sometimes, RIP #22
as a life time fan the 32-2 2 year record is what stands out the most for me! if not for thye sea of hands catch we could have made another sb! yes im and old school fan! i mean old! but this era was the example of real football! thanks for the memories!
Thanks for watching and commenting, James. I'm with ya - real football.
Wow bring back old memories watching the team play in the Orange Bowl. In 1974 I was 17 years old.
The Orange Bowl was my favorite NFL stadium back in the day. I liked Flipper's pool behind the open end zone of the stadium.
I turned 8 in 1974. I worshipped the NFL back then. I quit watching in 1999.
I can relate - if it not for fantasy football, I would have quit watching a lot earlier. I think a substantial segment of tv viewers play fantasy football and/or gamble on the games. Who knows what percentage of them actually give a hoot about the actual games.
A lot of people forget that at one point well into the 1975 season the Dolphins had the best record in the NFL. Injuries had a lot to do with the late season collapse that kept them out of the playoffs for the first time since 1969 - plus a bad call that invalidated Nat Moore's touchdown at Baltimore in week 13.
They were 7 wins and 1 loss after week 8, then lost the next 2 games, while the Vikings started the season with 10 straight wins and only lost 2 games in the regular season. I get your point though; they had a fine team, but then Griese was hurt in week 10 and didn't play for the remainder of the year.
Correct on the Nat Moore TD call vs Colts. Bad miss by referee. Game should have never gone to OT.
@@markgardner9460 Yep they were 10-0 and lost at Washington 31-30 when Cox had a 45 yard FG attempt blocked as time expired....
the Raiders Clarence Davis ''caught it '' one of best games that i ever seen, the Oakland Coliseum was going crazy !
I can still hear Dandy Don yell "He caught it! He caught it!"
@@markgardner9460 me too
@@markgardner9460 I think Stabler was more amazed than anyone. He described Davis as having "hands of wood".
That contract stuff started in 1971.
The Dolphins rushing average was 4.8 in 1972, 5.0 in 1973 and droped to 3.8 in 1974
Yet they had 4 Pro Bowl Offensive Linemen - strange.
Hi Marc - wearing my John Hadl powder blue for this one
Gotta love #21!!!
@@docnoc66 My first pro game live was Detroit hosting Green Bay at the Silverdome in Pontiac Michigan and John Hadl QBed the Packers
Special memory for me. September 1975.
The 70s had the most great teams of any decade..Miami, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Oakland , even Minnesota and L.A. Rams were persistent title contenders..no other decade can claim that quantity of excellence
I agree. Those teams were perpetual powerhouses and there has not been as many of them in any decade since.
Jake Scott being forced out of the game early against Oakland and a big impact.
Robbie shouldve given Warfield Czonka and Morris the money they wanted at the end of 74
That would have entailed the players breaking their contracts with the WFL Toronto/Memphis team that they signed on March 30th, 1974. There was no way that Robbie was going to pony up the 3 million dollar contracts sum that they signed for, in my opinion.
Shula said he got on his knees and begged Robbie. Oh well, he tried to keep the team together.
It was too late as they signed with WFL in off-season after victory over Vikings in 73 SB. If Robbie had matched the WFL offers the other 25 NFL owners would have excoriated him.
@@markgardner9460 Yeah, no way was Csonka going from $50k to one million in 74.
@@MarkHermann-u5p Joe Robbie was notoriously tight....Csonka said....They actually had no intention of signing but when they called down to Miami no one would take their call.... Csonka say it pissed them off that they wouldn't even talk to them.... If someone would have just talked to them they would have stayed in Miami....Coach Shula wasn't available or he would have...so he said
I like that you pointed to the pass defense, but you should have named Arnsparger. Sure, Csonka, Kiick and Warfield leaving for the WFL got all the headlines, but the loss of Arnsparger was the real nail in the coffin. The Dolphins declined immediately with his departure, and when he returned in the late 70's, began to ascend again culminating in the excellent teams of the early 80's lead by Arnsparger's Killer Bees defense. Arnsparger leaves again after the 83 season, the defense plummets almost overnight, and after a successful 84 season carried entirely on the shoulders of a rookie QB phenom, began the decline again. It's not a coincidence. Arnsparger was Miami's MVP during Shula's tenure.
While the Dolphins were #1 in the least amount of points surrendered in 1973, they only dropped to 6th in '74 and actually were better in '75 when they were 4th. So while they declined, it was not a large decline. Since it was not, I could not state that his departure was one of the top 2-3 reasons for their failure to play in another Super Bowl for the 1974 season.
All True , But Arnspargers killer Bees was pounded by bigger Offensive lines by the 1980s , Their Achilles heel was their inability to stop the run , 165 - 1978 vs Hou, , 149 - 1981 vs SD , 1983 - 276 vs Wash , 151 - 1983 vs Sea , 1985 - SF - 211 , 1985 vs NE - 255 , 1984 - 1985 were still his core players even though he left after Seattle game in 1983 .
@@mr.majestic3851 Good point on the run defense. He always had smallish guys up front favoring agility and that did hurt them in key cases. We saw that in Super Bowl 17 vs "The Hogs" (still that game was lost by David Woodley in my opinion). His pass defenses were always elite, with run lagging a little behind but there is no mistaking the overall defensive production in his years. The only point I would contest is that the core players were still there in 84 and 85. That part is true, but what was missing was the game planning, strategies, schemes and in game calls which is what made the key difference. Not many if any of those Killer Bees were hall of fame players. Besides, I'm not sure you could give Chuck Studley or Tom Olivadotti any players they would make successful 😂
@@markgardner9460 Statistically those are fair points, but I think what we would have a harder time proving is whether or not they made the clutch plays at the right time in the right situations under new leadership. That key stop when they had to make it sort of thing (sea of hands!). Calling the right schemes at the right time. Stats can hide those deficiencies but I don't have the proof on hand. Based on stats though, I get what you're saying.
Calling the right plays/schemes at the proper time is a terrific point made by you and like you have stated, it's impossible to determine which Coordinator did make/would have made more optimal play calls. Thanks for this discussion - I love it.
Three in a row is almost impossible.Too many variables and the game is too rough to sustain it. That team had a great run from 1970-1975. ( 10-4 in '75 and miss the playoffs- ouch!!!!). That team was sooooo deep in talent, Shula and his coaches did such a great job coaching them and they were a fun team to watch and root for. In some ways, I really like the 74-75 Dolphins better, because other teams were catching up and the Dolphins had so many injuries that they had to show just how deep they truly were. Great teams. The dominance of the Dolphins, Raiders, Steelers, Cowboys, Vikings, Rams and Redskins is what made that decade so great. Seven great franchises, doing the right things, each with its own philosophy and personality. The Raiders and Cowboys sustaining their great teams from the 60's through the early 80's is what sets them apart in my book; pushing two decades of success is a rare thing. I do wish the Steelers had squared off against the Rams in 1974 or 1975 with both teams healthy and something on the line.
Thank you for your comments. I am impressed at how well the Dolphins drafted and traded for players who took the places of departed and aging offensive skill players. A little later, they drafted quite well at the defensive line and linebacker positions, too. The Dallas Cowboys also were astute in that regard, both offensively and defensively.
@@christianstough6337 Packers are still the only team to do it. Three NFL Championships in a row. 1965, 1966, 1967. Steelers, Dolphins, Cowboys, 49ers, Patriots all close, but couldn't get 3 in a row.
I dont know if alot of football fan knows this.but in the dolphins 17- 0 season in that Superbowl they would of won 17-0 had that field goal wouldnt of been blocked
Well, the kick would have needed to go through the uprights without any penalties on the Dolphins, but I hear what yer sayin'! It would have been the perfect ending to a perfect 17 & 0 season.
From the time Don Shula arrived in Miami the Dolphins were the team to beat in the AFC, in 1970 the Raiders edged them in the playoffs, Dallas blast them in Super Bowl VI, Dolphins win two SBs in a row and now have the bullseye on them as World Champions and with Arnsparger's departure, Csonka, Warfield and Kiick's defection, the Dolphins still won 10 games in 1975 and 1977 and believe or not did not qualify for the playoffs in the 14 game regular season. The Dolphins dominated the AFC for the first lustrum of the 1970s and then the Steelers dominated the second one. Every team encounters injuries and to still have his team function as such a successful pace is Shula's greatest attribute (e.g. Earl Morrall replacing Griese in 14-0 after he broke his leg).
I remember the Washington Redskins game in 1974. Of all the games Jurgenson played well, that had to happen against the Miami Dolphins. I was so hoping the Dolphins could have won three consecutive Super Bowls. But their defense was good but not at the level of the previous two years.
I agree. Their defense allowed the second fewest rushing attempts in the NFL, so teams were onto how to best play offensive football against them - pass the ball.
Injuries and contractual discontent = no Super Bowl season. If the Sea of Hands didn't happen, wouldn't they have hosted the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game?
Big fan of Nat Moore, especially his late career resurgence with Dan Marino from 1983-1986, catching 26 TDs despite being the 3rd option behind Duper and Clayton. Another 1974 Dolphins highlight was 40-year old Earl Morrall starting the season finale against the Patriots, winning 34-27 and throwing for 288 yards.
Morrall would play 2 more years for Miami - what a unique career he had.
I have not checked, but a few viewers have stated that playoff seedings were not in place until the following year, so they were pre-determined and Pitt would have been the home team.
There were a number of reasons Miami fell short in 74. Many were mentioned in the video. Injuries played a large part. Both Bill Stanfill and Manny Fernandez played, but Stanfill had neck problems and Fernandez had back problems that affected their performance. The other injuries were mentioned in the video. The pass defense was not as good as Bill Arnsbarger had left to coach the Giants. There are stories that I have read that many of the defensive players didn't have faith in the new defensive coordinator. The loss of Csonka, Kiick, and Warfield had an impact as well. Also the Raiders and the Steelers were better teams than in previous years. Had Miami won the sea of hands game, I'm not sure how well they would have matched up against Pittsburgh. Every good team has a very small window of opportunity to win a championship before age and injuries close that window. Miami had great success and then their time just ran out.
Thank you for bringing up Stanfill and Fernandez's injuries! I was unaware of them.
3:52 Beautiful strip by Jerome Barcomb. Jake Scott never saw it coming.
After losing to them in the title game the year before, Stabler and the Raiders had just enough to take them down this time.
Nice save of a teammate by Warfield.
Yeah, it was like "Oh well"
The "Sea of Hands" is why the Dolphins didn't play in a fourth straight Super Bowl. One of the NFL's greatest playoff games. Look it up, kids.
Brought back memories. Was Larry Little the greatest guard to lace 'em up? He would be on a short list. I always liked Kiick, Anderson and Warfield. It was said that Benny Malone could walk over a fire hydrant and not touch the sides. I know '72 undefeated, but was the '73 fins a better team. Plunkett had a quick release, Namath the quickest, Griese looked like a relief pitcher. Griese was accurate though. Thanks brother, you're appreciated.
In rating offensive linemen, I think it should be done in eras - pre-'78 and post '78 sibce liberalization of offensive hand usage was altered in '78. Little played in both eras, but I think that he rates with Jim Parker, John Hannah and Joe DeLamielleure as the best pre-'78.
Floyd Little and Benny Malone could have had fully-grown pigs run between their legs without spreading their feet apart.
Howard Cosell said it best when he said that "Larry Little IS the greatest!"
For a 265 pounder, he was super fast on pulling plays.
Simply put, the injury bug hit them at the wrong time!! To many "key" players went down.
Yeah, when their main weakness got markedly more weak via those injuries, then they were really in trouble.
Snake drove down the field after a Miami touchdown for a last minute lobbing the ball, with somebody ahold of his leg, to Clarence Davis to steal the playoff from them. Balitnikoff made another impossible catch in that game. Miami ran back the field on the opening kickoff for a touchdown. I hadn't been watching Miami that year. I thought Grisse had been playing like that all year, lol. . . . Damn that was a great game!
It's my favorite game that I watched on live tv - great from start to finish.
CLASSIC GAME
Mercury Morris thrown onto that nasty green concrete at about 14:10. Not a Pleasant Valley Sunday.
...and his Monday wasn't much better, I'm sure.
"The Sea of Hands" Ken Stabler to Clarence Davis is what did it.
This is great! I was so happy when they lost. I had a friend who thought the Dolphins wouldn't lose to the Raiders. Hey, do a video as to why Tarkenton couldn't win a Super Bowl. He called his own plays. They lost to the Steelers in the SB, but he beat them in a regular season game. I know Paul Kraus said they never played good in the SB. They were a different team. Dallas couldn't beat the Steelers in the 70's during regular season but the Vikings could. It's a mystery.
That would be quite a massive undertaking which would be best done in segments. I'll need to think in-depth on that matter. Thanks for the idea.
@markgardner9460 You know what you're doing. You're the master of the real NFL. I'm not even a Vikings fan, but we were so impressed with their defense. Tarkenton broke a lot of Unitas' records. Foreman was great. They all were flat in the SB. Was it the warm weather? The world may never know.
A lot of fans put the blame on Head Coach Bud Grant for having his teams show up flat because he himself was so low key. If you're a player who is playing in a Super Bowl, then you shouldn't need a rah rah speech. I think that they were simply outclassed in all four of those games.
I've always believed that if the Vikings had won the 'Hail Mary' game, they would have had the right stuff to beat the Steelers in a Super Bowl X re-match.
@@thomaslord7995 That game was a shocker. Yes, I believe that's true. They would've beaten the Steelers.
If Benny Malone takes a knee at the one yard line late in the game with the raiders...
We don't have a sea of hands play...
Because they could have run enough time off the clock that Stabler doesn't see the ball again or gets it with only like 10 seconds left
Great point! It's difficult to blame Malone, but that would have been the proper play.
Considering WFL defections that would take place after 1974 and that Zonk and Mercury were injured - this team performed well.
Don Nottingham and Benny Malone performed brilliantly in relief of said players. Of course it all breaks down to how well the offensive and defensive lines performed, in terms of wins and losses. I don't think that the defensive line put enough heat on opposing QB's which in turn put excessive pressure on their secondary.
If Sonny would have started in the bowl , probably different outcome.
A lot of viewers over the course of this channel's existence have stated the same thing...and I'm with you and them.
I recall an interview with Shula stating that he felt more confident going into that game with Kilmer starting instead of Jurgensen. Interesting tidbit, He told Steve Sabol that George Allen had him watch the game alone from the press box instead of the sidelines.
Was at the 17-16 game in Baltimore
The Dolphins were 13 point favorites that game. The Colts almost pulled it off!
Imagine the game that wouldve been had Miami won in the Sea of Hands.
Steelers at Miami for the AFC title.
Current dynasty vs. the Future Dynasty.
That game might be the NFL's greatest what-if.
I think that the Dolphins would have won that game, then ran over the Vikings again for a 3rd straight Super Bowl victory.
@markgardner9460 I disagree.
It was the Steelers time.
By the playoffs in 74 their defense had become the best in the league, by far.
The Steelers offense was predicated almost solely on their running game and Miami's defense was rock solid in stopping the run. The Vikings defense shut out the Steelers offense in the first half of the Super Bowl and I think the result would have been the same with the Dolphins. To me, Pitt was still one year away, as Bradshaw was still not close to being fully developed.
@@markgardner9460 Raiders ran for 29 yds against Steel Curtain in AFC title with an O-line loaded with hall of famers.
If Miami shuts down Steeler running game, the Curtain would've done worse to the Fins.
By the AFC title game the Steelers were the best team in football.
@@markgardner9460 Plus,
Jake Scott and Curtis Johnson would've been doubtful at best for the title game.
Swann caught a TD at Oakland.
Bradshaw went 29 for 50 for 395 yds 4TD 1INT in the playoffs, for a rating of 101.6
He would've taken advantage of a depleted Fins secondary.
Simple. It's called the Sea of Hands play in Oakland.
That's obvious. My intent is to dig deeper and determine the reasons.
I know Mercury Morris was injured later in the year and missed the playoffs, if memory serves well.
Plus in the Sea of Hands game, both starting DB's Jake Scott and Curtis Johnson were injured during the game.
That's right - I mentioned that in the video. It's weird that the video seems to show Jake Scott limping off the field with an ice bag attached to his knee.
OJ could rush for 200 against the Mighty Steelers, but OJ was totally psyched out by Dolphins defense.
I think the Bills may have lost every game against the Dolphins in the '70's
Sad to see Namath barely able to run @ 1:38 with damaged knees, what could he have been with modern medicine.
Yes. At Alabama, Bear Bryant named him as the best athlete that he had coached, so with modern medicine, chances are that he could have held up well physically and really put up some stats!
I was cheating on my Packers with the Dolphins through their three Super Bowl years. After '74, I broke up with the Fins and went back to the old green and gold ball & chain. I've been faithful ever since, even through all the down years. 😁
Then in the 80s I actively rooted against Miami because Dan Marino was a Pitt Panther and I'm a Penn State Nittany Lion. Hating Pitt was a graduation requirement at PSU throughout the 70s & 80s and it carried over to NFL careers. To this day, on the extremely rare occasions I'm ever in the Pittsburgh area I make a point of going to the Pitt campus and spitting on it.
I find the '72 Packers as a very interesting team. They had a rugged, underrated defense that allowed the 4th least points. They were kind of like the Dolphins offense, as they were a rushing machine. They ran the ball 544X while passing only 237X.
@markgardner9460 True. And I think it was their first return to the playoffs since Super Bowl II.
That's right. I vaguely remember watching their playoff game against the Redskins. I think it was basically a slugfest......which is to say, real football.
The other AFC East teams were no longer terrible, either. Buffalo went 9-5 and the Patriots played well until injuries slowed them.
Great point, Tommy. The cakewalks were far fewer than earlier years.
and the Jets (I believe) won their last 6 to finish 7-7 in Joe Namath's last decent season
The late great Jim Langer, South Dakota State University!
He made 2nd Team All-America in baseball his junior season as an Outfielder. Excellent athlete.
Marv Fleming complained about Griese holding on to the ball and rated Bart Starr as a better QB than him. Griese was blind in one eye to a baseball accident.
I did not know that Griese's eye affliction resulted from a baseball accident, so thank you for providing that information!
Griese can't really complain if someone said Bart Starr was better...
after the sea of hands game the dolphins were never the same. when you think 1970s NFL you remember teams like the steelers cowboys and raiders to a degree.
the dolphins were on their way to a third SB win but the raiders were out for revenge after being dominated by the dolphins the year before in the postseason.
i never knew the raiders stopped the dolphins win streak in week 2 in 1973.
the raiders were always a good team but could never win the whole thing until the snake came along. by this time he was developing into a great QB. the 70s raiders were a physical team but also had WRs that were almost impossible to cover.
other teams by this time even bad ones seemed to get up against the dolphins and play them tough.
The Raiders went through the same thing that the Cowboys had went through earlier - very good teams, but they couldn't win the big one...until Dallas won the Super Bowl for the '71 season and Oakland won it for the '76 season.
@@markgardner9460 when both teams improved at the QB position thats when they got it done. though lombardis packers were some of the best teams ever.
Kuchenburg should be in the Hall.Finsup!
Bob himself pushed for his induction and others have as well, but I don't know if he'll ever be chosen, as he's borderline in a lot of pundits' minds.
Ken stabler threw a hail mary while falling down with seconds remaining...
Damn I just got this!
Is your notifications feature not working properly, Steven? I think that this has happened a couple of times so far.
@markgardner9460 I thought it was , but evidently it wasn't
It should always stay on, shouldn't it? Weird. Hopefully that doesn't happen again.
@markgardner9460 I don't know what happened because I definitely look forward to your videos!
The 3 peat is something not even the greatest teams could do. The 68 packers didn't even make the playoffs, the 74 dolphins lost in the final seconds, the 76 steelers ran out of gas, the 1980 steelers were just average, the 1990 49ers were outclashed by the giants, the 94 cowboys couldn't erase a 21-0 deficit, the 99 broncos had no chance without elway or terrell davis, and the 05 patriots were too injured to make it back to the big game. Can the 2024 chiefs win 3 in a row, or will the ball bounce the wrong way for KC?
Only the Packers from '65-'67 have won 3 consecutive NFL titles.
@markgardner9460 true, but there was no super bowl in 1965. Plus, the colts should've won that playoff game. Chandler missed that kick, and the ref ruled it was good? Anyway, 3 straight super bowl wins is, currently, impossible
4:05 Garo Yepremian gets a nice "love tap". Comical.
I had to chuckle watching him get bowled over. He could tell his wife that he actually got his uniform dirty in that game.
Because the snake game winning td pass was in the grasp-a rule nfl didn't have yet. And by '74 super steelers were too good so phins wouldn't have beaten steelers had they played them. Then the wfl dismantled phin offense and they were no longer a force thru the remainder of the '70's. '70's nfl was dominated by 6 teams-boys, vikes, rams in nfc. phins, steelers, raiders in afc. One or both played in every s b match-up in '70's and 2 of them had to perennially go thru the other one just to get to s b. '70's was a tough era in nfl. Kinda like the '80's nfc gauntlet skins, niners, g men, and bears had to go thru each other just to get to the sb.
The World Football league is the reason the Dolphins dynasty ended. They took the Dolphins best player's.
Csonka was on his decline by 74 ,he made the probowl but didn't amass 1000 yds rushing ,749 and only avg 3.8 yds per rush ,although he rushed for 9 yds ,Warfield another probowl participant only obtained 536 yds and two TDS ,his 19.9 yds per catch was impressive. Point being in their last leg of elite impact to some extent ,their presence wasn't significant enough after 74 for the dolphins regime to recapture past championship glory ,him nor Csonka never acquired 1000 yds ever again in their historical careers .Dick Anderson never made another probowl or all pro after 74 ,Jake Scott only one more probowl in 1975 , Bill Stanfill after 74 never was decorated as a probowl player again , Nick Buoniconti final probowl ,all pro decoration was in 73 ,Wayne Moore final probowl was 73 ,Larry Littles final all pro yr was 75 ,point being the Dolphins dynasty regime after 74 had become infested with battle attrition wear and tear , age ,athletic prime decline , particularly positions . Reinforcements were needed that were of equal elite talent and top tier impact of their position predecessors .The ultimate inevitable of the 70's dolphins decline had absolutely nothing to do with the wfl excursion of Warfield,Csonka ,Kiick ,those gentleman were already in their decline, although while Warfield and Csonka proved to be still solid players ,with occasions of brilliance they weren't elite nor capable of controlling the narrative of games for weeks on end ,same case for several important pieces of that dynasty dolphins team . The raiders victory in the 74;sea of hands game halted the dolphins sb run, the 70's Steelers dynasty punctuated it with 4 sb victories,twice repeating .Not coincidentally,after the dynamic talent of those early 70's dolphins sb teams decimated,Shula never duplicated that talent throughout both sides of line of scrimmage, resulting in him never winning another sb , despite advancing to two others ,he in fact set a record for a coach who already captured a sb win ,by losing 4 consecutive playoff games,74,78,79,81, which has now been broken.by steelers Mike Tomlin with 5 consecutive playoff loses and counting .
I hadn't thought about Shula's 4 straight play-off game losses, so thank you for bringing that up. I wonder if the Steelers will ever dismiss Tomlin if his post-season woes continue or if they'll afford him the opportunity to walk away on his own.
Three Letters: WFL!! Or 3 words: World Football League. Czonk, kiick, and Warfield all bolted.
Well, they bolted after the '74 season. The Dolphins went to the Super Bowl in the '71, '72, and '73 seasons, so the 4th straight season in which they could have gone to the Super Bowl was 1974 and they played for Miami during that season.
@@markgardner9460 I realized that after the video. Good job!! I was about 6-7 but I was already playing baseball and basketball. I loved the Dolphins and Steelers then. I distinctly remember the 3 of them bolting then coming back! Czonk for Giants & then back to Dolphins. Side note, my QB coach in NY was Joe Namaths!
And this fact about the Dolphins is interesting when 49ers went 15-1 the Steelers were the 9ers only loss and the Steelers could of met the 9ers in the Superbowl but the dolphins beat the Steelers in 84 then in 85 bears only loss was to the dolphins then bears could of got revenge but the pats beat Miami to go to the superbowl
👍👍👍
Glad you liked it! Thanks!
Joe Robbie was cheap,took success for granted, and disrespected his players. They quickly lost stars to the WFL. They could have challenged Pittsburgh and Oakland for a few more seasons.
Lesson for team owners and management at all companies: pay people what they're worth
Only 1 answer. The Sea of Hands.
Yes, that's the obvious answer. My intent was to discern what specific factors caused the Dolphins to not be able to secure a won/loss record that would have afforded them home field advantage for the play-offs and a team that would have been good enough to make it to another Super Bowl.
Mr. Marangi?
Because they lost to the Oakland Raiders in the Sea of Hands game
Yeah, due to not having home field advantage and not having an effective pass defense.
Why no 4th straight SB? It's because they LOST THE SEA OF HANDS GAME against the Raiders!! Maybe the greatest game ever played.
Yeah, that we know. My intention is to delve into the reasons why.
@@markgardner9460 end of game Dolphins score too fast Benny Malone scores with 2 min. if they used up all their time Kick fg with no time on clock they win and maybe they go back to SB. Stabler had 2 min and there was no one better in clutch
Great point! Shula noted that, too.
The Raiders did play the Patriots (contrary to what you said) and beat them 41 to 26
My apologies. I must have been looking at the 1973 or 1975 schedule. Thank you.
In a word, the Oakland Raiders.
Why could not the Vikings offense ever score in Super Bowls in all 4 games? Ok. I know. the AFC teams were better than the NFC teams in the 70's BUT. at least the Redskins. and Cowboys and Rams. in them 12970's Super Bowl games. kept it close and scored 3 td's or more. so. Why did the Vikings defense always play good but their Offense sucker? I will tell you why. as I know- It is just because, thats all. thats the way the cookie crumbles. it just happened. they lost to better teams. and the games against the Dolphins and Steelers. the Vikings had a lot of bad calls go against them and. bad luck plays. Hey. it just happened and thats that !!!!!
Steelcurtain the reason why
Because they lost to Oakland in the playoffs😅
Steelers won the Super Bowl that year,
2 to 0 score at half-time
garo yepremium is the worst athlete that ever lived & hes on the greatest team of all time.
I'll go with Manute Bol of the NBA
Garo was an excellent kicker, who came through in the clutch - well, sometimes.
Climate change?
Maybe it was jet fuel residue from planes that flew over The Orange Bowl during all those years. NBC NFL announcer Curt Gowdy said that the green artificial turf had turned blue due to that jet fuel residue.
@markgardner9460 Wow.
The 1974 Dolphins were a very good team but clearly a step down (particularly on defense) from the previous year. Even if they had played it properly at the end against the Raiders (Malone not score too early, run clock down) in the 1st round play-off game, it would not have ultimately made a difference as they would have played Pittsburgh the following week and lost convincingly just as Oakland did.
Thank you for your take.
WFL
Do you think that Csonka, Kiick and Warfield didn't put out 100% because they signed contracts to play elsewhere after the completion of the 1974 season?
Battle attrition injuries contributed from participating in three extended seasons three consecutive sb's along with age beginning to sap athletic prime from key members eventually caught up to the dolphins empire by 74 .
That makes a LOT of sense! Throw in Pro Bowl games and College All-Star Games and there's even more games played.
“…by a host of…” Dolphins not Raiders.
WFL
Csonka, Kiick and Warfield could have been eyeing that greener pasture during the '74 season and perhaps not performing up to par, but that is a factor that is difficult to prove without having inside information. Quite a few other viewers have stated your same response, however.